LFW: BURBERRY PORSUM S/S 2015

Burberry enjoys the unique position of being Britain’s most popular, most exported, and recognized brand around the globe. Burberry’s show is always the largest of the week, never failing to cause traffic jams on the streets of London both before and after, and always doing a good job of helping Londoners who know next to nothing about fashion feel that they perhaps know something about fashion (they don’t). Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey is nothing if not a clever marketer in addition to being a gifted designer and pulls together a very talented team of young designers to create a very large and diverse collection every season that captures the heart, the soul, and the wallet of Brits everywhere.

Set to a live acoustic soundtrack performed by James Bay, the Burberry spring/summer 2015 collection is centered around flowers and insects, which is itself something of a trend this season. In fact, there were so very many trending and predictable elements to this collection that it is probably easier to just list the most obvious ones and be done with it.

Nature theme

Floral prints

Natural fibers (some, not all)

Variations on the trench look (when does Burberry not do this?)

Bows (which I really can’t believe is a trend) done here in tulle

Sheers (lots of ’em)

Earth tones

Denim

Sandals and sneakers

Multiple layers

Cropped jackets and tops

Texture

Plunging necklines

Longer hemlines

And those are just the trends one notices in the first handful of looks. This is, as always, a very large collection and we see several of those trends continue throughout, especially the damn bows (which, honestly, I do not understand).

If one is looking for surprises and innovation in design, this is not the place one will find it. Burberry is a brand that plays to trends rather than create them, and it plays to them very well. The most unique aspect of the line is the actual prints themselves, which are quite nice and bound to be very popular. Handbags are also a big item for Burberry and this season they’re rather large (another trend) and rounded; something referred to as a bee bag, which fits in nicely with the insect portion of the theme.

The one thing missing from this season’s show? Nothing fell from the ceiling during the models’ finale walk. I rather miss that. I was really hoping, given the theme, that dead bugs would fall from the sky. That would have been innovative and exciting.

There is no way this Burberry line won’t be popular, though most women will have to make some adjustments for the sake of modesty (or legality). James Bay just added several thousand new admirers of his music. People in and around London will talk for weeks about how much they enjoyed the “innovative” fashion of the Burberry show.

And Christopher Bailey will continue calculating new and innovative ways to take your money next spring.